Former prime minister Edward Seaga says Andrew Holness will need to focus on the economy, education and agriculture when he takes over as Prime Minister of Jamaica of Sunday.
“The economy really comes first; until you fix that, you’re really not going anywhere. I think he had that as part of the training he had at the University of the West Indies (UWI) from which he graduated,” said Seaga.
“But if he hadn’t, he would have learnt enough in the past four years in which the JLP (Jamaica Labour Party) has been in power, because of the amount of discussions that would have taken place on the economy, to have a full grasp of it,” he added.
Seaga, widely regarded as Holness’ mentor, welcomed and endorsed him as an ideal candidate to replace Prime Minister Bruce Golding, who is tendering his resignation to Governor General Sir Patrick Alleyne on Sunday.
Holness, the present Education Minister, will be sworn in as the island’s new head of government at a ceremony at 4.00 pm (local time) on Sunday.
Seaga, who served as Jamaica’s fifth prime minister between 1980-89, said Holness “has the right make-up (and) the right characteristics” for the job.
“While I am not in favour of this argument that you have to be young, youth is not an impediment if it is put to serve in the right (way). I have known other young people, who were more interested in serving themselves in politics, and for a time I lost my faith that we would ever find young people who could really be useful in becoming leaders to take this nation’s affairs on their shoulders.
“But Andrew, I think, is one who is not in that category, he is someone who is more focused on the national affairs of the country,” said Seaga recalling meeting Holness while the minister served as Executive Director of the Voluntary Organisation for the Upliftment of Children (VOUCH), between 1994 and 1996.
“I noted that the person who was running it (VOUCH) was a young man and we got to talking and after sufficient time had passed, I asked if he would like to join me in what I was doing, and he agreed.
“It’s unusual to find young men in those kinds of situations, because it’s an area in which you are trained to give, and to give support and to give assistance, and men are not that caring. If it was a woman in the position, I could have understood it more. So, to me, it was a unique situation,” he said.
Noting that Holness displays a “firm disposition,” Seaga said he is capable of making the correct decisions “with due consideration.”
“Those are the tools you need to handle problems, and with those tools, I expect him to be able to cope. Now, it’s not every problem that you can cope with, and you always have to take advice, and that is the area in which he will have to, if he hasn’t yet mastered, learn how to adapt himself,” he added.
Regarding education, Seaga credited. Holness with initiating “far-reaching” and “ground breaking” ideas in the Ministry.
“So, I hope his care and attention to the Ministry (of Education) will be continued in one way or the other. You can’t solve all problems at one time. Pick the ones that are most important and the ones that can most readily be solved, so as to make some headway,” Seaga said.
Holness will become the youngest person, at age 39, to become prime minister and joins the small band of regional leaders who have assumed this position, prior to reaching age 40.
Holness, the parliamentary representative for the West Central St. Andrew constituency since 1997, became the youngest legislator that year, at age 25.
Between 1999 and 2007, Holness served as Opposition Spokesperson on Land and Development; Housing; and Education.
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